I appreciate the position President Obama is in with regard to Iran: say too much, and risk being accused of meddling and tampering by the mullahs; say too little and risk being on the wrong side of history:

Senator John McCain said today that the United States needs to be on the “right side of history” in responding to the disputed Iranian elections and ensuing protests.

…

“America’s position in the world is one of moral leadership,” the senator said. “It’s not about what takes place in the streets of Iran. It is about what takes place in America’s conscience.”

…

“America has a moral obligation” to provide moral and other forms of support, he said.

…

“The fact is, America has been and will be the beacon of hope and freedom,” McCain said. “We are on their side as they seek freedom,” he said of the protestors.

You can’t tell me that a president with the best teleprompter money can buy can’t speak more forcefully about America’s inbred sympathy with those who seek freedom. Hell, even President Bush could do that.

But the smartest, cleanest, most articulate president ACORN and Soros could buy can’t do any better than this:

“The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching,” Obama said in a statement yesterday. “We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people.”

Maybe it’s better if you set it to music:

Allons enfants de la patrie,
We call on the Iranian government to
Stop all violent and unjust actions
Against its own people.

You know, the legislation I’m signing today represents change that’s been decades in the making. Since at least the middle of the last century, we’ve known about the harmful and often deadly effects of tobacco products.

…

Each day, 1,000 young people under the age of 18 become new, regular, daily smokers. And almost 90 percent of all smokers began at or before their 18th birthday.

I know — I was one of these teenagers, and so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it’s been with you for a long time.

Smoking is often called a dirty habit. So we can scratch “smart” and “clean” from the list of his attributes.

As for articulate, even lies can be articulate. Smoking already has been regulated for decades—with success. Far fewer people smoke today than 20 or 30 years ago. And through taxes government makes a lot more money per pack than Big Tobacco does.

The future of menthol cigarettes, smoked by 12 million Americans and 75 percent of African American smokers, could be the next flashpoint in a decades-long campaign against smoking in the United States.

…

The bill outlawed flavorings like chocolate, cherry and cloves that can attract young people to start smoking — but excluded menthol, by far the most popular flavoring accounting for around 27 percent of the cigarette market.

So little black kids can still get hooked on butts, and that’s okay with this president?

Carol said,

I say this as someone who smoked for 10 or 20 years and quit around 15 years ago: what on earth were people doing electing someone so weak that he can’t manage to quit smoking? Quitting wasn’t fun, but I was over it in two weeks. Obama has so very many defects of character that he barely has any at all. And to his prevarication and hesitancy and his always waiting for someone else to go first – I think I can call that cowardice – we get to add weak-willed. What were people thinking?

I was no John McCain fan – I really voted for Sarah and against Obama – but John McCain is the anti-Obama: no more lack of clarity than most politicians, but most assuredly not a coward, and anyone who can survive years in the loving arms of North Vietnam can manage something as trivial as quitting smoking. And again, with that survival, McCain is not weak-willed.

What were people thinking?

Bloodthirsty Liberal said,

What were they thinking? Hope! Change! The Future! The First African American President! (all on a loop) We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. A New Beginning. Lower Taxes. There’s Nothing Particularly Radical About My Church… wait, no, not that one. Yes, We Can. The Oceans Will Recede. There Will Be Peace In Our Time. (I mighta gotten that one from someone else)